Russia urges EU to lift sanctions on all Russians

Russia said Tuesday that the European Union should remove all Russian citizens and businesspeople from its sanctions list, as EU members discuss ending measures against oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said at his daily briefing that the sanctions should be lifted for Usmanov, Fridman, all Russian businesspeople and all Russian citizens. He repeated Moscow's position that EU asset freezes and travel bans are illegal.

The 27-nation bloc had looked set to remove asset freezes and visa bans from Usmanov and Fridman after demands from France, Luxembourg and Slovakia. Latvia has objected, and the wider process of renewing sanctions on Russians is now in doubt before a deadline.